


For Certain

by elfdemeanor



Series: perceive me (perceiving myself) [1]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Alcohol, Cuddling, Drunkenness, Emotional Vulnerability, Fluff, Introspection, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mentions of past abuse, No Manga Spoilers, Soft Asagiri Gen, gen is just. my favorite ever, its like. one sentence, its not mentioned at all but yes gen is trans in this and hes trans in all of my writing, read the content warnings in the authors note, soft ishigami senku, this is the fluffiest thing i have ever written in my whole fuckin life, very vague
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfdemeanor/pseuds/elfdemeanor
Summary: Like this, he could see that Gen was truly in his element. It had probably been quite some time since he was able to genuinely put on a show for other people, but now - now he had a completely fresh audience. Even the simplest tricks amazed them. Senku wasn’t even very close - he was leaned up against the side of a hut about 30 feet away from where Gen was standing - and it was dark out, save for the small fire in the middle of the village, but even with all that, he could see clear as day the way Gen’s eyes gleamed in the dancing light of the fire. Huh.Of course, as is with all things, someone just had to break out the alcohol. It seemed even after 3,700 years, the nature of human social gatherings hadn’t changed.Or, Gen and Senku work up the nerve to say things to each other after Gen gets drunk.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Series: perceive me (perceiving myself) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027555
Comments: 14
Kudos: 180





	For Certain

**Author's Note:**

> howdy! wow, two uploads in one week. sengen brainworm has taken over
> 
> stuff for this work:  
> this is probably the most ive projected onto gen, food mention, alcohol, gen gets drunk, mentions of underage drinking, my vocabulary is 10 words total, gen is a cuddly drunk, drunken honesty, mention of very vague past abuse, gen has some unhealthy standards for relationships, senku is unsure about himself, and hmmmm. i think that's it! please let me know if you think anything else needs to be tagged.
> 
> i should also mention, i was pretty drunk when i wrote this so sorry for any mistakes lmao. anyway, enjoy!

It was great that they finally got some time to relax. Well, it wasn’t really that they had time - they definitely did not - it was more that some of the villagers were starting to get tired _fast._ It took some convincing, but Gen had finally managed to get through to Senku. Admittedly, he was right; Senku wasn’t like the rest of the villagers. He had seemingly endless motivation and burnout had never been an issue for him. The stone people, on the other hand, had never experienced such strict and challenging labor. They gathered food and repaired clothes, but the mental strain of learning a new skill almost every day and having to follow rigid instructions to reach a goal that they couldn’t really picture… well, once Senku considered it like that, thanks to a conversation with Gen, it was easy to see why it would take a toll on them. Senku struggled with empathy at times, but he wasn’t cruel by any means.

So, at the suggestion of Gen, Senku planned a small ( _small_ ) feast for the village. They didn’t have incredibly advanced food, but Gen and Suika had actually managed to find some real spices out in the forest. Kohaku caught some fish, a couple turkeys, and a deer (her physical prowess never ceased to amaze Senku), Chrome took it upon himself to gather wild rice and peas, and Senku, with his everlasting generosity, said fuck it, and made some more cotton candy.

The preparations took the whole day, but when he stepped back and looked at what they had accomplished, Senku could honestly say that he was exceedingly proud of his little team and all their hard work. It paid off, too - that night was the most fun many of the villagers had had in a long, long time. The whole village gathered around and ate together, joking around and exchanging stories around the small bonfire. Gen even did a couple tricks, which the villagers took _much_ better compared to last time. Ever since Senku had become chief and taught them about science, the accusations of witchcraft and sorcery had decreased drastically. The food had come a long way, too, and was delicious, even by modern standards.

A couple villagers had even approached Senku to thank him for everything that he did for the village, which he wasn’t totally sure how to handle. Sure, he had made some improvements - that’s just what happens with science. Advancements spur on other advancements and, if done correctly, _ethically_ , everyone benefits. It wasn’t a big deal. Plus, he worked them to the bone and was dragging them into a war, why would they be thanking him? He mostly grunted or said “you’re welcome” in response. Once he was caught off guard and, embarrassingly, stammered out a very wise “Uh- you too.”

But once everyone had settled in, he allowed himself to sit back and watch Gen perform. Like this, he could see that Gen was truly in his element. It had probably been quite some time since he was able to genuinely put on a show for other people, but now - now he had a completely fresh audience. Even the simplest tricks amazed them. Senku wasn’t even very close - he was leaned up against the side of a hut about 30 feet away from where Gen was standing - and it was dark out, save for the small fire in the middle of the village, but even with all that, he could see clear as day the way Gen’s eyes gleamed in the dancing light of the fire. Huh.

Of course, as is with all things, someone just _had_ to break out the booze. It seemed even after 3,700 years, the nature of human social gatherings hadn’t changed.

Senku wasn’t even sure who the culprit was - what he _did_ know was that drinking ten billion percent was _not_ for him. The one time Byakuya had let him have a glass at dinner, he had gotten wine-drunk and _hated_ it. He truly didn’t understand how people actually _enjoye_ _d_ being that hot and dizzy and out-of-control. So as hypnotizing as it was to watch Gen tilt his head back and slam a glass of wine - Senku was ten billion percent sure that you weren’t supposed to drink wine that fast - he made the decision to retire to the observatory for the night. As he made his way over, he shook his head and chuckled. Those idiots better not get too drunk tonight; a hangover would make the back-breaking work he had planned for tomorrow awfully difficult.

For some reason, though, he couldn’t get himself to focus on re-mapping the stars that night. Every time he gazed through the telescope, he caught himself staring for far longer than necessary. The idea of calculating and charting completely slipped his mind and was replaced by the impulse to just _look_.

It was… nice. He couldn’t remember the last time he let himself simply take in the beauty of the night sky. No agenda, no list of things to accomplish… it was uncomfortable at first and a nagging voice in his head kept telling him that he was _wasting time_ or _failing them_ , but gradually, his mind simmered down, and all that was left was him and the stars and the cold, crisp air of a late, Stone World evening.

Senku had only been up there for about 1,115 seconds when the telltale creaking of someone making their way up the ladder started. Senku snorted; it was much, _much_ slower than normal. Whoever it was was clearly struggling. Eventually, the two-toned hair of a certain very annoying and very _drunk_ mentalist came into view.

“Senku-ch-” Gen promptly flopped onto the floor, having finally made his way up the ladder. “-chaaaan,” he whined. “Why would you put a ladder here, meanie?”

It was becoming increasingly difficult not to outright laugh at Gen. The older boy was currently splayed out on the ground, face-down, his legs swinging back and forth in the air at frequently changing speeds. “You alright there, mentalist?” Senku asked, biting back the amusement in his voice.

Gen’s head quickly shot up and his glazed-over eyes met Senku’s. He propped up his head in his hands, a giddy smile blooming on his face. “Senkuuuuu-chaaaaaan~ Are you worried about me?”

“Yeah, right,” Senku huffed. “Just seems like the climb up here was a bit of an issue for you, dumbass.”

This provoked a fit of giggles from Gen; he buried his face in his arms, legs swinging at full force again. In this extremely rare moment, Gen, albeit very drunk, seemed to have let his walls down completely. There was no hint of hidden intentions or double meanings - this was just Gen. Silly, relaxed Gen. Senku briefly wondered when the last time was that Gen had allowed himself to be ‘off’. Even during the nights where it was just them in the observatory, even though Gen _obviously_ trusted Senku, Senku always got the sense that Gen was still carefully filtering himself; the mentalist was shrouded in a smoke screen, and no matter how close Senku got, he could never quite see him clearly.

Within a minute, Gen’s giggles started to die down. He picked himself up off the ground and walked - well, _crawled_ \- over to where Senku was seated, where he leaned heavily on him and stage-whispered in his ear, “Okay, don’t tell anyone, Senku, but I’m a teeeeeeny bit drunk.” This had him doubled over in laughter yet again, and soon he was effectively slumped into Senku’s side. The real surprise came when Gen’s hands came up to rest on Senku’s right shoulder, his head settled on his left. Senku, unsure of what to do with his face or his hands or his _words_ , settled for gently wrapping his left arm around Gen’s back and planting his hand on his waist.

They hadn’t talked about it yet - they were both either too awkward or too confused or too _scared_ to push - but there had been… _something_ in the air between them ever since Gen built the observatory for Senku’s birthday. It had been building for quite some time now, but with the apocalypse and a war and the rebirth of society to deal with, finding the time to discuss their maybe-probably-definitely romantic feelings for one another wasn’t exactly a top priority. Senku, in all honesty, thought about what a relationship with Gen might be like more often than he would like to admit. Every day he spent with the older boy was another day where their abilities complimented each other perfectly. Senku had come to trust and respect Gen deeply, but lately it had been more than that. He found himself wondering what Gen was up to with increasing frequency (even though he knew Gen’s work schedule) and had even started hoping that Gen would wander into the lab to pester him. The sheer _presence_ of Asagiri Gen enthralled Senku like no one else.

Gen’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Hm~ Why are you hiding up here, Senku-chan? You can’t work all the time, you’ll finish civilization too quickly.” His tone was unsteady, not in an emotional way, but in the way someone who had no idea where their sentence was going would speak. Pfft.

“That’s what we want to happen, idiot.” Senku kept talking over Gen’s small ‘hey!’ “And I’m not hiding, I just don’t like to drink.”

Gen gasped dramatically. “Senku-chan! Who let you drink in the old world? You’re underage!”

Senku snorted and poked Gen in the side, making the older boy squirm. He usually didn’t get the chance to tease Gen like this, but now he was sure he’d need to find a way to incorporate this into their everyday lives. “My dad did once. Also, you’re underage too.”

The other boy laughed and wiggled against Senku’s side. “Shh, that never happened.” His voice was rapidly getting louder now. “You have nooooo proof!”

“Be quiet, Mentalist, you’ll wake up the whole village,” Senku managed to get out, bubbling with laughter at the unadulterated ridiculousness of- of _whatever_ was happening right now. This sparked _another_ bout of giggles from Gen. They laughed at each other’s stupidity for a while before settling into a comfortable silence. One of Gen’s hands left his shoulder to play mindlessly with one of Senku’s bangs.

“I like you, Senku,” Gen murmured, nudging his head into the crook where Senku’s neck met his shoulder. “You’re so nice to me.”

“I _just_ called you an idiot.”

“Nooo, not like that,” Gen exclaimed, patting vaguely in the direction of Senku’s cheek. “You do it like- like-” he waved his hands in front of them. The attempt at explaining his complicated feelings toward Senku in his drunken state was admirable. “You’re- you don’t hurt me! There we go,” Gen hummed, satisfied with his answer.

Senku, on the other hand, was ten billion percent _not_ satisfied with that answer. What was _that_ supposed to mean? “Explain.”

Gen let out a sigh. “You- like- you don’t call me bad names! Or, like, try and grab me and stuff. It’s so nice to have people care about you. You’re kind of a gentle person, did you know that, Senku-chan?” Gen’s grip on his shoulder tightened; Senku could _feel_ the emotions radiating off of Gen: protectiveness, uncertainty, tenderness. He rubbed small, comforting circles on Gen’s waist with his thumb and Gen damn near _purred_ at the small show of affection, nestling impossibly closer. “You do all these things for other people. It just feels like… you make things better wherever you go.”

“I- I don’t-”

“Yeah, you do.”

That extinguished the burning urge of denial completely. Gen’s ability to tell exactly what Senku was thinking, what he was going to say next, even while he was drunk, was a phenomenon that Senku hadn’t fully gotten used to yet. Entirely overwhelmed with the sudden compliments, Senku settled for leaning his head on Gen’s as a response. Letting himself enjoy things and just _be_ with Gen was healing all on its own; it was a relief to be able to turn his brain - his strategic, war-focused brain - off for a little bit. “I hope… I hope you don’t just like me because I don’t hurt you, Gen,” he managed to say after a long quiet.

The simmer of laughter from the boy at his side caught him by surprise. “Definitely not, Senku-chan,” Gen reassured him, but fell into thoughtful, pregnant silence immediately after. “In fact,” he said after a while. “I think I’d still like you even if you did hurt me.” The lilt in his tone was clearly there to lighten the impact of his words, but Senku couldn’t bring himself to treat a statement like that as anything _but_ serious. He felt himself press his lips together in a tight line, unable to form a satisfactory reply. “Ah,” Gen noted, realizing the mood. “That’s kind of messed up, huh?”

“Yeah,” Senku muttered. “Don’t stick around people who hurt you, Gen.”

The other boy hummed, neither a promise or a denial, but acknowledgement was good enough for Senku right now. They could work on it. “I think that’s why being in the Empire of Might is so hard,” Gen piped up. “I know I serve a purpose to them but… I don’t think Tsukasa-chan likes me as a person very much, y’know?” Senku supposed that that was true. Gen probably represented a lot of what Tsukasa didn’t like about their world. He was crafty and manipulative, never straightforward. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized that Gen was constantly shifting, a vast sea of ever-changing states of being, and Tsukasa was really only seeing about a puddle’s worth. He didn’t see how Gen entertained the village children after a long day, or how he was constantly on the lookout for more supplies or tactics that could help the Kingdom of Science. He didn’t get to see Gen’s earnest laughs or the simple, contemplative silence that Gen often embodied, but Senku _did_ (a fact that made Senku swell with pride, though he would never admit it). Tsukasa only viewed Gen’s abilities as a medium for evil, but Senku had the privilege of learning all the ways that Gen used them for real and true selflessness. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Gen’s waist.

It was amazing and infuriating, really; this whole time, Gen had been talking about what a gift Senku was to the world, how he constantly made things better, but Senku’s own fear had prevented him from returning that comfort. But really, who was going to judge him? At first, he believed Gen would, but with how emotionally vulnerable the supposed ‘most shallow man’ had been tonight, that worry was quickly diminishing. Here, it was just him and Gen and an endless expanse of star systems; what could go wrong? He swallowed thickly, preparing to voice affection in a way that he had never allowed himself to before. “You know,” he said, furrowing his eyebrows, his voice catching in his throat. He started over. “You know, I hope someday you can see yourself the way I see you.”

It would be hard to miss the sharp inhale from the boy that was now fully tucked into his side. For the first time, it seemed that he had rendered Gen silent. Neither of them knew what would happen from here; all of this would’ve been so much easier if they had been in the modern world. No petrification, no war, no rebuilding, but also no Ishigami Senku and Asagiri Gen. The chances of them actually meeting in the modern world were slim to none, much less becoming friends and… becoming this. So although they were having to cope with chaos that they never had to, never _wanted_ to before, there was a small stronghold of certainty in the fact that whatever direction they were going, they would go there together.

Senku was startled out of his head yet again by the gentle sensation of Gen turning his head and pressing the smallest, most tender kiss to the crook of Senku’s neck. He would’ve completely missed it if he wasn’t hyper-aware of every bodily sensation he was experiencing right now, the synapses in his brain firing at full power, and he thanked _whatever_ was out there that he didn’t. “You too, Senku-chan.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! kudos are comments are greatly appreciated :-]


End file.
